Blessed Milk Thistle & The Great Goddess

Once upon a time, a mother found herself on a long journey with her baby daughter. They traveled by boat, then by train and then for the very last leg, on foot. The mom carried her baby slung across her body with a strip of fabric like a sash.

Also slung across her body in the opposite direction, was a satchel of meager provisions.

As misfortune would have it, mother and daughter were set upon by thieves as they walked the last few miles home. The woman possessed no coin or jewels, so the thieves snatched the satchel and baby then fled on horseback. The mother gave chase, running after them until her legs shook uncontrollably, and her lungs burned like fire.

Knowing she was no match for the speed of the horses, she knelt on the dirt road and prayed for help. She wept and prayed that her baby daughter would be safely returned to her. She wept and prayed that the divine Great Goddess would hear her cries and help her. After a while, the mother rose to her feet. She felt calm and strong as these words entered her mind, “Fear not what you think you cannot do. Do what you must.” The mother stood, her fears receded and her heart filled with the strength and fire. She knew reuniting with her baby was all she must do.

With steely determination, the mother walked through the night. Shortly after sunup she came upon the thieves’ camp. Imagining she was as thin as air, she tip-toed into a stand of trees and peered into the clearing where the two thieves were just awakening. Her sweet, baby girl gently fussed in her own bedroll, swaddled near the fire. She saw her satchel and thought of the bits of bread, fruit and nuts it held. Her hollow stomach growled in hungry protest. The thieves’ two horses stood a few yards away from her, tied to thin saplings, their heads lowered as they munched on blades of grass.

An idea began to form in the mother’s mind to use the horses to distract the men. She took a carful step toward the horses then sharply sucked in her breath as her ankle grazed the fiery leaves of a thistle plant. The horses nickered and shifted their weight nervously as she stood statue still, hoping she remained undetected. Looking down at the offending plant, she noticed the distinctive white veins and deep green leaves of the Blessed Milk Thistle. It was growing abundantly along the road and beyond the trees. She peaked over into the camp. The men were just climbing out of their bed rolls, one stoking the embers of the campfire into a flame, the other lazily reaching for the satchel of food. The mother gingerly crept over to the horses and untied their straps. Then she led them away from the trail and toward the road. She crept almost 20 feet before one of the horses neighed loudly. Thinking quickly, she smacked it on the rump and sent it running down the road, its companion following. The two men sprung to their feet and looked in her direction. “Our horses!”, one of the thieves shouted. Then they spotted the mother, hands on hips, jaw firmly set. Without hesitation the men ran toward her. She stood calmly and waited. As soon as they cleared the stand of trees, they ran into the patch of Blessed Milk Thistle in their bare feet. They screamed; one fell. In this moment of commotion, the mother sprinted to the trail, into the camp, swooped up her baby and the satchel, and kept running.

How long the mother ran, she couldn’t tell you. Eventually, she slowed, stopped, and rested. Being reunited with her baby was all that mattered. Later that afternoon, mother and daughter made it to their destination. Safely home, the mother prayed, once again, giving thanks to the Great Goddess. The daughter grew to be a strong, beautiful and resourceful woman, like her mother. The story of how her life was saved with the help of the Great Goddess, the Blessed Milk Thistle and her mother’s resourceful thinking was told for years and years afterward, instilling traits of courage, perseverance, and strength in the daughter. These traits were passed down from mother to child for eons and generations thereafter. A respect and reverence was built in the family around plants, nature and Mother Earth. Some descendants became herbalists, some became artists. Some quietly raised their families, and some passionately advocated for others, yet all were healers and light workers. They never forgot the family-story of the Blessed Milk Thistle and The Great Goddess. Their descendants still tell the story today.

And they lived happily ever after.

Happy Mother’s Day 2023

*The Blessed Milk Thistle plant is a symbol of the Great Goddess and feminine divine, the milky sap is representative of a mother’s breast milk. The Celtics revere it as a symbol of bravery, devotion and determination. It has a reputation of helping one overcome adversity and difficult situations. As medicine The Blessed Milk Thistle plant can promote lactation in nursing mothers, stimulate appetites, treat diarrhea and indigestion, diminish cold and flu symptoms and be used as a poultice for skin irritations or rashes.

Resources for this story are as follows:

Wikipedia

The Berkeley Herbal Center